In this two-person exhibition, artists Bo Kim and Hayle Lovstedt explore themes of perception, relationship, and vulnerability in artwork that is interconnected yet aesthetically different.

Bo Kim’s paintings of ornithological specimens merge the precision of a scientist with the sensitivity of an artist. By re-presenting natural science collections through a careful and observant lens, Kim highlights the artist’s role as both interpreter and advocate for social and environmental awareness. Her work challenges conventional systems of categorization and perception, encouraging viewers to reconsider the assumptions that shape our understanding of nature and one another. Lovstedt’s “hostile” and “inconvenient” objects confront us with their subversion of functionality in their everyday uses. A serving bowl with spikes or a multi-handled mug gives us pause and invites us to make space for the unspoken tension that may be present at the dinner table.

Together, these disparate bodies of work begin a larger interwoven conversation about the everyday and how false perceptions can embed trauma. What are the implications of our disregard? Who decides what’s worthy of attention and why does their voice carry such weight? How can we begin to shift our perspective? When are we allowed to take up space—and when do we simply take it?

Lee Mingwei’s ongoing collaborative artwork, Our Peaceable Kingdom, began in part with a 2018 visit to the Worcester Art Museum, where he encountered a painting by American folk artist Edward Hicks (c. 1833). Captivated by Hicks’ Quaker vision of peace, Lee invited artists to respond to and reinterpret this iconic painting, considering the enduring question, “What is peace?”